Update

Hey everyone. My computer got a virus in Viet Nam so I haven't been able to update but I will be doing that soon. Check back in the next few weeks and I will write about Japan, Hawaii, Costa Rica, Florida, and a wrap-up. Thanks for reading!

China

It would be a major understatement to say I have avoided writing this entry. I’ve been in Japan for two days and I realize now I need to write this entry at some point. It would be unfair to all of you who care to read about me if I were to leave you in the dark about what happened in the last few days. I will briefly talk about the tragedy that occurred last week and then attempt to give you a positive entry about China, then I will go into more detail.

If you have been in contact with me and you read my blog you hear all about my roommate Kurt. We ate every meal together and traveled together in every country. Last week he was hit by a drunk driver in Hong Kong when he was trying to get back to the ship. Kurt had become a brother to me. I haven’t been closer to anyone since starting this voyage with Semester at Sea. I think about him and his family every minute of every day since it happened. I would ask that you keep him and his family in your thoughts. I cannot think of anything worse than losing someone who had so much to offer the world. His family is undoubtedly suffering right now on a much larger scale than I am. I would like to try and tell you about China before I get more into this.

The ship arrived in Hong Kong on November 6th. I got to sleep late the night before and by the time I woke up people I was planning on spending the day with had already left the ship. It didn’t matter because I wanted to go solo that day to see what Hong Kong was like. I explored the entire day. I spent maybe 10 hours by myself, bustling about Hong Kong and finding new things. I am absolutely in love with Asian fashion, especially in Japan. In America I had never been able to find one of those sport jacket/hoodie fusion things so I hunted for one of those for most of the day. I see them in every Asian country but even after trying on close to 20 of them I could never settle for one. If no one knows what I am talking about it is basically a hoodie on the inside with a blazer on the outside. I also looked for a white sports jacket. The one I found in Viet Nam was so perfect but I didn’t want to spend $60 on it. I should have just bought it because now I compare everything else to that jacket and I’m never satisfied. Sucks. I went to a super authentic hole in the wall and ate some delicious roasted duck. Right next door was a Ben & Jerry’s! I got a big waffle cone with chocolate fudge brownie on the bottom and chocolate chip cookie dough on top. It was like eating a piece of heaven. I got on a subway a little after the heaven eating and got off at some random stop and spent a few hours there. I had fun.

I didn’t go out that night because I had a flight to Beijing the next day and I wanted to be on top of my game. I went with 4 girls: Nina, Alissa, Kasie, and Kelsey. We stayed at a hostel called the 1 Hai Inn. It was the best place to stay. So many travelers stay there. There is a restaurant and a bar inside. There is a courtyard where all the travelers from all around the world meet up and just talk about everything they‘ve done and seen. We were tired and we had to wake up really early to start our tour so we ate at the hostel and hung out in the bar for a while. They had a flat screen TV that they hooked up to the computer while we were showing each other YouTube videos. I am so obsessed with the SNL skit where they did the Joe Biden/Sarah Palin debate. I quote the Joe Biden part of it daily. For a paper I am doing I had to use a English/Chinese dictionary to interview the staff members at the hostel. At around 1 or 2 in the morning Kelsey and I walked to an ATM and saw a Tea shop across the street that was still open. We went in to get some tea and this man honestly sat at the next table (there were plenty of other tables to sit at) and watched us drink our tea. The next morning we got breakfast before our tour started. I love the 1 Hai Inn so much but I don’t think I have ever waited that long to get food. It wasn’t all that great either. Usually that would make someone miserable but we all loved staying there. If I ever go back to Beijing I want to stay there for as long as possible. When we met our tour guide in the morning I didn’t think she spoke English because she didn’t understand me. The girls told me it was because I was making absolutely no sense. The guide’s name was Rita and she was so much fun. We loved being with her. When the tour was over we wanted her to come to Shanghai with us because it was so great having her around when we were traveling. The first day we went to see all the buildings where the Olympics took place. After that we went to the Ming Tombs and finally the Great Wall of China. I was so stoked to see that damn wall. I did a project on it when I was in 5th or 6th grade and it has always been something I wanted to see. It lived up to every expectation I had. We were the only group to see the sunset on the wall. Before we went on the trip we almost got put in with the group of 25 other SAS students but I had us put in a separate group. If I hadn’t done that the trip would have been a terrible experience. The other groups had so many people and they were all hearing about Kurt at different times. It would have been so bad if I had to be near them the whole time. That night we had dinner by the wall with a local family. All of the other groups had dinner either with us or near us. I have never seen so much beer in my life. Most people got pretty sloppy that night but it turned out to be a fun time. It was crazy emotional for everyone but we managed to make the best of it. I did my best to stay strong for the girls. They were all friends with Kurt as well and I knew if I held up they would have to. I broke down a little that night but we went up the wall to where we would be sleeping and had a good night. The stars shine so bright when you‘re on that wall. When I was in Namibia sleeping on top of that safari bus I remember thinking I would never see a nicer night sky. This time it was like that but I was so high up that I was able to see everything so much clearer. It was a nice night. The other groups guide, Tony, had way too much to drink and he made me laugh a lot. He called me emperor at one point. I remember seeing him eating some birthday cake by himself because the girls in his group were being mean to him. Poor Tony. The next morning it was cold, damn cold. I was warm when I was laying down but as soon as I got up I was doubting my ability to hike the wall. Two of the girls in my group were too cold to do the hike and went back to the van to wait with Tito. I should explain Tito. None of us, not even Rita, could pronounce our driver’s name. He was quiet and he wore a leather jacket. He just reminded me of a hit man or bodyguard so I nicknamed him Tito. Even Rita started to call him Tito. Mainly we only said this to each other because he wouldn’t know what we were talking about but at one point I said “Tito can you pass the tea” and he turned around and poured me some tea. It made me real happy that he embraced the nickname. Anyways, Alissa and Kasie were too cold to do the hike so they went with Tito to the next village and hung out for the 3 hours that it took the rest of us to hike the wall for a few miles. I believe it was 8 kilometers total. 5 minutes into the hike the sun was beating down on us hard and we were all taking off layers. I felt bad that Alissa and Kasie didn’t come with us. It was so beautiful. I can’t even believe it’s real. Just miles and miles of an ancient wall. There is one part of the wall in much better condition than the rest. Rita told us that for a few months Japan and China were extremely close and Japan gave them money to repair the wall. They only did this for a short time and as a result there is only about 40 feet of the wall looking like that. Later on there was a part of the wall where I was able to stand in Mongolia and Rita was standing in China. She got real into it when I wanted to take a picture and pretended to be a Chinese soldier fighting against me, an evil Mongolian. The hike was strenuous and rewarding. After we finished the hike we found Tito fishing in a nearby river. He led us to Alissa and Kasie and we all had one last meal in Beijing. On the flight to Shanghai a flight attendant informed me of an emergency. I had already found out about Kurt two days earlier but had been unable to contact the ship even though I tried multiple times. They didn’t think I found out yet but the woman made the mistake of telling me it was a family emergency. I had a 2 and a half hour flight worrying about that before I realized the number given to me didn’t even work. I tried calling the ship that night at my hostel but again I was unsuccessful. The next day we tried to go back to the ship but it was caught in a storm between Hong Kong and Shanghai. China tried very hard to be a disaster but we endured as best we could. We went to the Shanghai Zoo with all of our bags. It had its ups and downs. I almost fought a man who was throwing cigarettes at a hippo. I guess it didn’t please him that hippos don’t move much. The guy hit the hippo the face with a cigarette and I honestly wanted to knock him out. I’m not a violent person but something as repulsive as throwing cigarettes at a helpless animal work a rage up in me. The zoo has so many nice animals but no one was looking out for them. There were hardly any exhibits where Chinese people weren’t throwing things at the animals. I don’t know how many of you know this about me but I can’t deal with an animal being poorly treated. I get extremely emotional when it comes to animals. I couldn’t handle it. We went to the zoo mainly to see pandas. Nina is obsessed with pandas, it was her top priority in China. After the incident at the hippopotamus exhibit we were both all teary and she asked me to go ahead to make sure it was safe for her to see the pandas. I went ahead and as soon as I saw them I was smiling. Pandas are the cutest animals ever. I read on a poster near the exhibit that they only spend 2% of the day doing physical activity. We were lucky to be there for that entire time. It made the zoo a worthwhile experience. I love pandas! I have never seen a human face look as happy as Nina’s while she looked at Chaun Chaun. I loved it. I wish there was something I could do about the way the animals are being treated in that zoo. After the zoo we went back to the ship where everybody wanted to talk to me. They had been trying to get into contact with me in so many ways (even though my cell phone never rang except when it had been my parents). I had tickets to see the Shanghai Acrobatics Show so I told them I would do whatever they needed me to do after the show. The show was insane. Most of the people in the show were just kids. It made me kind of sad but it was still a great thing to watch. I don’t know what to think about China. I was taken on stage for one act. They had a guy throwing knives at this other guy and they asked for a volunteer. I jumped up and they took me on stage. I was so excited. They put a jacket over my head and I would hear a bang or two before they would remove the jacket. Any time they took the jacket away there would be knives in the board I was bound to. After 4 times they put a balloon between my knees and I was right nervous. Afterwards no one really said anything to me like nice job or anything except for a few strangers. I was so pissed when I found out later that night that the knives weren’t actually being thrown at me. It was actually kind of embarrassing. I wish I could just not have such a big conscience. I wish I could just not tell you this part and you could all be like “NO WAY YOU’RE SO COOL!” But no, I have to tell you because I’m a sucker. When they put the jacket on my head the guy’s assistant would come up to me and slam the knives into the board. I thought the purpose of the jacket was so I wouldn’t flinch. I’m still really upset about it. The acrobatics show was amazing nevertheless. We went out to eat and when I got back to the ship it was time to get back to reality. The last day in Shanghai was insignificant and disastrous so I’m not even going to go into detail. It just wasn’t a fun day and all of us started to despise the locals. Everyone was rude.
Despite that last day in Shanghai I would say China was great. The circumstances were terrible and I can’t say it was perfect but the choices I made in China were the right choices. The Great Wall is a must see as are Chinese acrobatics. I would recommend the zoo if the animals weren’t being so poorly treated. I might go back to Beijing one day but I don’t imagine going back to any other part of China.

Now I’ll try to get into specifics about Kurt. We got into a petty argument the night before we arrived in Hong Kong. The details of the argument aren‘t important. This was the last time we spoke. The next day he left without me and when he came back to the ship he left without me again. It was the first time anything like this had ever happened. It was the first time in port that we both weren’t fully aware of what the other was doing. Anytime we don’t plan or do something together we at least invite the other to come. We had never got into an argument before so I didn’t know what to expect from him. I just figured he needed time to cool off. I waited up for him that night but he never came back to the room. I assumed he was spending the night in someone else’s cabin or that he got a hotel room. The circumstances were so rare. I don’t recall a single occasion, other than this one, where I didn’t know what Kurt was doing. I found out the next day in Beijing when I was in front of the Water Cube. They didn’t say it was him but I already knew. The girls were all looking at me curious as to what I was so worried about and I couldn’t put the words together. I told them we were all asked to call the ship immediately because someone had died. I wouldn’t have been so sure it was Kurt if I wasn’t told that Shalina was the person who left the message for me. For those of you who don’t recall, Shalina is my LLC (like a resident director at a normal dormitory) and I was with her for most of the night that Kurt hadn’t come back to the ship. I had been talking to her about how crazy it was that Kurt was avoiding me for such a ridiculous reason. The girls all went to call their parents and I stayed in the van to call my mom. I told my mom what I thought but I tried to find some assurance that it hadn’t been Kurt and that it was some weird mistake. I hung up the phone as the girls got back into the van and none of them would look at me. If I wasn’t sure before I was definitely sure at that point. Alissa told me it was definitely Kurt and my mind started racing. I kept thinking about his brother in New Zealand and how close Kurt was with his family. I had never as close to my family as Kurt was with his, I couldn't imagine what they were feeling. Rita asked what we wanted to do and I assured her that we could do the tour and that we would deal with the situation together. It was on our minds the entire time and every time I took a step closer to the ship I dreaded what I was walking towards. They had a new roommate planned for me as well as a new cabin. They had the counselor on standby and my card was deactivated as soon as I got onto the ship. Everyone, especially Shalina, was expecting a mess of a man to get on the ship but they were even more worried about me when they found out how wrong they were. The worst part about this for me is everyone being worried about me. I shouldn’t be getting this attention. I don’t want it and I certainly don’t need it. Please, keep that in mind after you read this. His family is going through something terrible right now, keep them in your thoughts, not me. After I talked to a few faculty that night I learned that Kurt was hit by a drunk driver a few hours after he left a club. It wasn’t odd for him to be walking but usually he had someone sober with him; me. I keep getting flashbacks to Viet Nam when we walked for about an hour at 2am because he didn’t feel like getting into a cab. It happened all the time but usually I was able to convince him to get in the cab. At the very least I would be there to walk him back to the ship. Not only that. but in Hong Kong the streets are confusing, no one speaks English, the drivers are crazy and on top of that Kurt had been drinking all night. There was so much working against him. I pieced together more and more since that night and I feel like I understand what happened more than anyone. I was asked to pack all of Kurt’s belongings because his parents wanted everything immediately. His laptop, unfortunately, broke a week earlier and his 3 to 4 year old journal was kept on the damn thing. I hope they are able to fix it because that journal was important to Kurt. He wrote in it every day and I loved when he would let me read it and even more when he would let me help him with quotes or memories from the different things we did. I asked to speak with his parents before I packed his things. Kurt was doing something special for them, and for his twin brother, in each port. I don’t want to say exactly what he was doing because they might read this but basically he was getting something for each one of them in each of the countries we came to. I asked them if I could keep those gifts so I could continue what Kurt had started and if I could leave his sleeping bag on his bed. Kurt hated the SAS sheets and removed them on the first or second day on the ship. He slept in his sleeping bag on his bed ever since. They gave me permission to leave these things on the ship. Talking to his family was surreal to me. Kurt and I had always talked about the things we would do after SAS and where we would go. I always knew I would meet his family eventually and I was excited about it. Within minutes of the phone call I was reassured of what I always believed in Kurt. He was a result of his family. His kindness, thoughtfulness and good nature. He had no choice but to turn out as good as he did. I have friends like that and I have always been curious as to why it didn’t happen to me in the same way. I love my parents and I am lucky to have them, they’ve always done what they thought was best for me. However, my development has been a result of cause and effect more than anything else. It’s always been about my environment and my situation. My inner dilemma is that Kurt let his family do something for him that I was never open to. We used to talk about how our biggest difference was acceptance and after talking to his parents I am seeing it so much more. I was speechless when the first thing his father said to me was “Vince, how are you doing?” with genuine sincerity and concern. Speechless. After speaking with his parents his mother tells me that Kurt’s girlfriend, Marissa wants to speak with me. I’ve heard about her every once and a while and I used to see Kurt writing e-mails to her every day. I was so unprepared. In that short conversation Marissa that took away any negative opinions I might have ever assumed of Kurt. I’ve been planning his memorial service on the ship and I keep trying to forget that I won’t be at the funeral. If I had the money I would fly to Milwaukee for the funeral but it’s just not possible. Every night people break down when they think about Kurt and so far I’ve been a rock for everyone that needs to see me as one. I haven’t stopped blaming myself for letting him be alone that night and to be honest I don’t think I ever will. Even if I couldn’t have helped I just wish he wasn’t alone. Talking to his parents and to Marissa have been amazing for me. Kurt was surrounded by people just as exceptional as himself.

I will most likely add more pictures and videos to this post.

Viet Nam

Disclaimer: I was never able to post this in China because my computer has been malfunctioning. I wrote this on my first day in China but I am posting it while I am in Japan. My China post will also be put up soon, probably today.

Hello everyone! So now that I am in China I can give you a post about Viet Nam. I had a good time in Viet Nam, but there were consequences. If you add up how much money I’ve spent in every port and then compared it to how much money I spent in Viet Nam, I think the numbers would be pretty close. I don’t know how it happened because everything is so cheap and I didn’t get much at all.
The first day I went out with my friend Kelsey. She was meeting up with a Vietnamese girl she knew through a friend. The girl’s name was Chau (and hopefully she is reading this, HEY CHAU!). Of all the people in foreign countries I’ve met on this voyage, Chau is by far the kindest. It was so great to have a local take us around. One thing everyone wanted to do in Viet Nam was to get a clothes made, especially suits. It’s cheap and they make it just for you so it’s a great thing to go home with. Chau took me to a tailor/designer that was more expensive than the others but she said my suit would be nicer. I paid a whole lot more than what other people paid and I just hope I don’t regret it later. Other people had to wait three days to pick up their suit but mine takes over a week. Chau is going to send it to me. I picked out this fabric that was all plaid. In total I had 5 pieces made. The jacket, pants, vest, bowtie (all plaid), and a black shirt. I almost went all out and bought crocodile accessories to wear with it (shoes, belt, money clip, and possibly a wristwatch strap), but after all I spent on the suit I decided against it. We spent most of that day hanging out with Chau; exploring Ho Chi Minh City. The second day I had a trip that was leaving at 4am for Nha Trang. I intended to pack, then go out, and then get back in time for the ship but it didn’t work out as I had planned. I ended up falling asleep at around 9:30 and waking up 20 minutes later to find that everyone was leaving or had already left. I decided I would just go to sleep early. Wrong again. My friend got back from her night early and wanted to hang out so I stayed up with her until I had to leave for my trip. The effects of staying up that night are still with me today, a week later. I kept thinking I would be able to sleep on the bus ride or the plane ride or something but everything happened very quickly. We arrived in Nha Trang in the morning and started sightseeing immediately. At some point I was able to pick up one of those cone-like rice hats. When we finally got to the hotel I couldn’t even sleep. I went for a swim and had dinner and fell asleep after dinner. I woke up and everyone had left for the bars and clubs without me. I went out and explored for a little while by myself and then came back to find out the hotel had free wi-fi. I got to video chat with some friends back home and talk to a few more people. I also updated my blog to put nicer pictures up. My sleeping schedule was all messed up and I couldn’t go to sleep that night. The next day we did more sightseeing and touring. We stopped at an aquarium on the way to a beach.The aquarium was nice and it had a big tower with great views. After the aquarium we went to a relaxing beach-like area, kind of like a small quay or jetty. Everyone laid out in the sun or went swimming. I get real bored with that kind of stuff. Luckily the professor on the trip exploited the kayaks. I had never gone kayaking before but I’ve always wanted to do it (along with crew, but that’s besides the point). I don’t really get the opportunity for things like that back home. While everyone laid out and tanned I went kayaking for about an hour. I ventured far and wide and found a water park along a beach on another side of the island. On the way back I had to go against the current and it felt so good. I have got to start kayaking, it’s such an invigorating activity.It was tough to move in the kayak they gave me because the paddles were so skinny and the actual boat was rickety as all hell. Nevertheless that was one of my favorite things to do on the voyage so far. The solitude along with the vitalizing workout is too great to explain. That night I went out for a little but I ended up just coming back to hotel to swim. That night I spent a while talking to friends from back home again. The next day we did a few more tourist things. We went to a huge pagoda and saw an enormous Buddha. The picture really does not do it justice. It was so big. I should have gone to a photography class before coming on SAS because my pictures probably give the worst impressions of the most interesting things in the world. On the last day I went out with my hotel roommate to explore Nha Trang and do some shopping. I didn’t buy much there at all. I got a shirt for a friend and I bought a Hollister collared shirt for $5 (which was overpaying in Viet Nam). We went to this place called Crazy Kim (Chau’s recommendation) and had the most amazing meal. Prior to going to Crazy Kim, all the food we had on the trip was the same thing. Always the same exact kinds of seafood, which I love, but it was getting tired. I had the greatest cheeseburger and swordfish kabobs. We also got a Crazy Kim bucket which is just a ridiculous jug of mixed drinks. I love Crazy Kim; I hope to go back someday. There was one night and one day left in Viet Nam when I returned from Nha Trang. I spent the last night with my roommate, going to a night market and getting pressured by “moto-bike” drivers and prostitutes. Serendipitously, we got lost and a German man gave us directions and we ended up going out to eat with him and his wife. He told us he wanted to take us to the best Vietnamese restaurant around, and that there would be no other tourists. He was correct. It was great. I could never pronounce his name but he was a chef at the best hotel in Ho Chi Minh City and now he owns his own restaurant. I wanted to go there the last day but I never got the opportunity. Kurt and I walked around for the next few hours that night; explored the city and saw Ho Chi Minh's underbelly. The next morning I went to go get my suit fitted and altered. Then I met up with Chau and Kelsey. I sent a package home that cost me almost as much as my suit. It was irritating but my cabin had so much stuff in it that I just had to get rid of it. That day was a lot of fun. We went to a few different markets and they went to a spa. I looked for a suit jacket to no avail. I found one that I loved and it fit me so perfectly but I didn’t have enough money on me. I hope to buy a suit jacket in China. That was most of what I did in Viet Nam. Everyone got clothes made and I wish I took advantage of that more than I did. If you ever go to Viet Nam, bring pictures or sketches of clothes you want. They can make anything and it comes out so nice. My LLC (SAS version of an RA, sort of) Shalina, got almost a dozen things made. One kid got over a thousand dollars worth of dress clothes. It’s so cheap there (not where I went) that it just makes sense to get all of that while you’re in Viet Nam. Plus, it will all be made just for you! It’s also a good idea to go get a massage. Doing anything at a spa in Viet Nam costs fractions of what it would cost in the United States, and it’s all a lot nicer. However, guys should be more cautious. Make sure you’re just paying for a massage and not anything else. I don’t think prostitution is legal but there is a lot of it going on. Hope this was enjoyable. I would greatly appreciate more comments. I feel like no one is reading my blog. Sad face.

Malaysia

Before this entry gets started I want to point out that I am currently in a hotel in Viet Nam with free internet. I spent a while tonight going through my blog and taking out bad pictures and putting in better quality ones. If you're intersted in seeing the nice ones you should go back and read my past entries.

I feel like this will be a boring enry. There isn't much I could explain about Malaysia. One little side note is that we had to tender to and from the ship every time we got on our off. This is a picture I took of the ship as I was hanging out of the tender boat. As for my time in Malaysia, I actually acted like a traditional American college student for once. I spent my days doing tourist things and my nights at bars and clubs. I had fun every day and every night. I signed up for a three day trip to Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. Unfortunately I signed up for an SAS trip when I should have done it independently. The Semester at Sea trips are always WAY overpriced. It was a $340 trip or something and the people who did the trip independently paid maybe $50 per person for transportation and accommodations. I was not happy with that. I made the same mistake for Viet Nam but we'll get to that in my next entry. For the SAS trip, the guides took us to all different cultural sights in Malaysia. I am usually interested in that sort of thing but everything ended up being very boring. The best part of the SAS planned stuff was going to a firefly park. You couldn't take pictures because it would scare the fireflies away but it was a great experience. It was like entire trees were covered in blinking Christmas lights. One of the first stops we made was at the King's palace. There were guards in front and it kind of reminded me of the White House. We also went to the top of a building that looked kind of like the Seattle Space Needle. It was called the Kuala Lumpur Tower. They also had their own version of the Twin Towers. Nice architecture was all over Kuala Lumpur. I also went to see the world's largest mosque. I think it was the largest. It was definitely the largest in Malaysia but I'm not 100% if it was the largest in the world. The day we got back from KL, Kurt and I went up to Batu Ferrenghi to check out the night market. It's basically a long street with bootleg everything. I didn't really buy anything besides a little lamp thing. There were beaches all over but we didn't even go to any now that I think about it. Other than that I did a lot of dancing at clubs and met a lot of interesting people. One British guy, Ben, owned a bar that I was passing by late one night and he had about 10 of us come in and basically kept the bar open all night for us to hang out and have a good time. Most of the clubs had live bands and I noticed that pretty much every band at some point would play a song by The Cranberries. Random, I know. Kuala Lumpur was a blast and I recommend going there to anyone. There are plenty of places to relax but the nightlife offers a lot of excitement. There are also things like the butterfly garden, spice garden, botanical garden, and dozens more interesting sights in Penang. I only had time to see one and Kurt wanted to get spices so we went to the spice garden. Everything was out of season so it wasn't the right choice. There are huge malls and the clothing is very unique in all of them. I saw all of these sport jacket/hoodie fusions that I wanted but they didn't fit right so I never got one. After Malaysia we had a masquerade dance thing on the ship for Halloween. I think I might have been the person to come u with masquerade dance but it ended up just being a Halloween party... whatevs. I was a ninja. Random addition, this is my friend Kelsey and I playing airplane in the hall. She was dressed as Beatrix Kiddo from Kill Bill (Uma Thurman's character).Later on we were practicing a circus routine where she walks on my knee and onto my shoulders and arms. I don't have a picture of it but it we were getting good at it. At one point she fell and we got noise violations because a crew member was on the floor below us. It probably doesn't sound that funny but she asked us to explain to her what we were doing to make so much noise. My friend Bensen had been taking pictures so she took the camera to see for herself and looked at me like I was 2 years old. HAH! Good times.

India

This is going to be a difficult entry for me to write. Before we arrived in India and after we left everyone said “you either love India or you hate India” and I’m not sure which stance I have. Some people could not wait to leave almost as soon as we arrived but I feel like my time there was positive overall. The weather was absolutely atrocious. As soon as any of us stepped foot off the ship we were already sweating bullets but the locals were so used to the disgusting humidity that they didn’t even seem to sweat. We had men that couldn’t have weighed more than 130 pounds pulling up to three people, with bags, in their little bicycle carriers in 100 degree weather. It was amazing.
My first three days were spent doing a program called the Art of Living. It’s a program where you learn certain types of yoga, breathing techniques, and meditation. I can’t pronounce anything that we did so I’m saying yoga, breathing techniques, and meditation out of ignorance but that is my way of explaining what we did in simple English. My group stayed in a small village dedicated to the program. It was kind of like an Art of Living gated community or something. I don’t understand the word ashram but it would be so nice to be able to use it right now. I don’t know if it is a word to be used for the actual place that we did the things we did or if the word is supposed to be used for the doing of the things we were doing. If that makes any sense then please educate me on that matter. So yeah… ashram. Ashram! I love the word I just don’t understand it! My room was the worst room there. There were only 5 guys that signed up to do the Art of Living, including myself, and we all got put in one scorching room with tiny windows (which had to be closed to avoid mosquitos) and thin metal beds. I’m not sure if any of the guys showered for the entire time there. Not to sound gross or anything… but I don’t even think I changed my clothes once. Every day we woke up at around 6am to start the program and there were multiple sessions throughout the day. They served cocoa in the morning, breakfast after session one, lunch after session two, snack sometime later on and then dinner after the last session. Every meal was traditional Indian food meaning most people were making multiple trips to the bathroom every day. It’s probably sharing too much to say that my roommate is still trying to get his stomach back to normal and we left India like three days ago… poor Kurt. I want to add that the other rooms for our group had air conditioners and adjacent bathrooms with regular toilets. The bathroom in the building I was in didn’t have a “toilet” as I would call it. It was more like a hole in the floor that had a powerful flusher. There were tiny authentic shops throughout the village and one nice gift shop that had really nice crafts and linens. I bought myself a hammock for some reason. I figure when I get my own place someday I’ll have a hammock from India. I know you’re probably thinking that everyone who has a hammock technically has a hammock from India but I will have one that I actually purchased in India and saw the place where it was hand woven. So HA! Anyways, I bought all kinds of gifts for people back home there. The sessions were great. I learned all kinds of techniques and exercises that I hope to use as often as possible. My favorite thing that happened to me was one time when I opened my eyes after a meditation I looked around and everyone was laying down sleeping. After you do this certain breathing technique and meditation the instructor always had people lay down because you usually get really nauseous and lightheaded and when I opened my eyes they were just getting done with that part and everyone was getting up already. If it isn’t a good story than it was at least self fulfilling. One thing that we did was this exercise where everyone in the entire room sat in two rows and you had to sit facing someone in the opposite row, hold hand with them, and convey to them how much they meant to you by using your eyes and nothing else. It probably sounds corny but it was earnest and I enjoyed it. I have a tendency of appreciating people by watching them which might sound kind of awkward but it ended up being a purpose of that exercise so good for me. There were a lot of school children around the village and they were always so fun to talk to. They loved taking pictures and getting there pictures taken. I love these two pictures I have with some of the students I met on the last day there. At one point we saw some kind of Indian puppet show that was interesting. The best part of the puppet show was meeting the guy who was doing the show before and after the show. He was SO quiet and gave off almost an unpleasant vibe but his puppet show was so vibrant. I have a video of the puppet show but I’m not sure it’s very interesting to put on here so I’m just not going to. There were two people doing fortune readings. One woman read palms and another guy across from her did “Parrot Readings.” It was really neat, he had two parrots in a cage and he would let one out and it would look at the person and than choose a card. I wanted to do it so bad but the translator was doing the palm readings with the girls for such a long time that I never got the chance. I don’t really believe in that stuff but the parrots were so intriguing. Other fun things were a glass blower that made little glass figures as we watched him work and almost everyone except me got henna done. Some people got it all up their arms and on their hands and down their leg. The woman that was doing it was super talented. I had a great time at the ashram.
The night I got back to the ship I just watched a movie and went to sleep. The next day I hung out with a girl for most of the morning and afternoon. She knew this rickshaw driver from the day before named Madu. A rickshaw is basically a three wheeled taxi thing. It’s bigger than a bike but smaller than a car. They are everywhere in India. They are crazy drivers. There were times when I honestly thought we were simply not going to make it through intersections alive. Madu was the best. He took us everywhere we wanted to go even though we didn’t know where we wanted to go. All the other rickshaw drivers are paid to take you to shops that are overpriced and they overcharge you and sometimes won’t take you back unless you pay them a lot more but Madu was the man. He bargained for us and when we were being bothered by vendors or beggars he would get them to leave us alone. He took us to this place that had all kinds of jewelry and artwork and I got this black tapestry with gold and silver thread. The thread is metal, too. It’s so nice I can’t wait to put it over my bed or something when I get home. I also bought a bunch of gifts for home. That night my roommate got back from his trip to the Taj Mahaal right as I was going out for the night so I waited for him and got inside a cab that honestly might have shortened my life or something. There were nine of us total. Five people got into a van taxi and then four of us got into this little cab with this insane cab driver blasting Indian techno music. He drove on the wrong side of the road for fun and there was this maneuver he did where he drove between the van and a bus. I should mention the van and the bus were parallel in their lanes. I don’t know how it happened it was unbelievable. He also drove on the other side of the road while a bus was coming towards us and swerved back into traffic just as there was an opening before the bus got to us. His brakes just barely prevented him from smashing into 2 other cars, a motorcycle, and a whole bunch of rickshaws. The girl sitting next to me was digging her nails into my knee because she was so scared of his driving. When we got to the restaurant a guy we went with bought the techno CD. That night was fun. We went from the restaurant to a bar and then a club for a little while. The girl I was hanging out with earlier in the day got me into the club without having to pay the cover charge. She gets in free everywhere she goes, it’s incredible. One guy was dancing with us and kept calling me Brad Pitt. Most of the people at the club were way older, including that guy. The music was all Indian techno. The next day I went on my own to go find Madu but I was unsuccessful. I bought a silk bed set for myself and a few more gifts for back home. When I was walking back to the ship a guy in a huge truck offered me a ride back to the ship. I thought he was just being nice but then he asked me for 100 rupees, which is only about 2 dollars, but the guys who drive you that far on the back of a bicycle don’t even ask for that much so I was kind of annoyed. Whatever. India was fun and overall I enjoyed it. If you are incapable of withstanding excessive odors and terrible heat then I would avoid going there altogether. Malaysia is next. I am actually in Malaysia for the first day right now and I can’t wait to find out what it’s like.
More comments please! I enabled anonymous comments because I trust you will all comment and leave your names. I guess you don't really have to but it would make me smile if I knew who was commenting.

Cape Town, South Africa

Okay so this is way overdue and I apologize. This week was midterm week and I just never found time to post anything. South Africa is interesting. I didn’t spend my time there very wisely. There were all sorts of trips and interesting things to do but I spent my time being a tourist instead of doing the adventurous stuff. Most people went skydiving and parasailing and things of that nature. I had fun but I just wish I did more exciting things. Cape Town is super touristy. There is so much to do and so much to see. Most of the time I forgot I was in Africa because it was such a big city. Right next to the ship there was a huge mall and a quick taxi ride away there was “Long Street” which is basically a street full of clubs, bars, restaurants, shops, and all other kinds of places to spend money. Another little situation down the street from the ship was an fascinating craft market. I went back to it almost every day in South Africa just in case anything new might catch my eye. All along the port there are dozens of restaurants and bars with such good food. If you ever go to South Africa try to be a little daring and get some ostrich, game, or crocodile when you go out to eat. I also had sushi almost every day. I can’t wait until we get to Japan because I am going to feast on sushi as often as possible.
The first trip I attempted to go on was a trip to Robben Island which is just off the coast of Cape Town. It’s an island with a prison on it, sort of like Alcatraz. It’s where Nelson Mendela was imprisoned for most of his time in penitentiary. Unfortunately the winds kept the ferry from going and my trip was cancelled. The first trip I actually got to go on was a trip to the tip of the Africa. I went with my roommate, Kurt. There weren’t many people signed up and I was the last person on the bus. I actually had to run to catch the bus because I was originally in line for the wrong daytrip. First we went to see the Twelve Apostles; a group of mountains that actually count up to something like eighteen. Then we stopped at an ostrich farm. After that we went to the Cape of Good Hope. The picture got whitewashed but that is Kurt and I. The Cape of Good Hope isn’t the farthest south part of Africa but it’s a few miles away and it’s way more “dramatic” as our tour guide put it. It’s the most south-western part of the continent. Then we went to Cape Point which is where the Indian Ocean meets the Atlantic Ocean. There’s a lighthouse way up on the mountain that has some great views. After that we went to see penguins and then to an enjoyable local restaurant.
The next day my roommate went to go pet cheetahs and I sort of bailed out to hang out with a girl that lives next door to us. Cheetahs were one of my two favorite animals growing up so I’m still shocked that I did that but I ended up having an entertaining day. We attempted to go skydiving but they were all booked so we spent the day around Cape Town doing tourist things and eventually went on two mini-cruises around the harbor. The rest of the week I spent mostly enjoying the nightlife but one day I went with my roommate and a few other people to hike Table Mountain. When you go to Cape Town the first thing you see is Table Mountain. It’s huge. It ended up being one of the scariest things I’ve ever done but I’m still alive so I feel good about it for the most part. The entire hike offered amazing views but I only have one or two pictures to show off. A couple we met on our way up directed us to a path that wasn’t exactly an “official” path but we decided to try it out and as a result we all almost died a few times. I don’t completely regret this because I know that what we did was completely unique. There was one view that I don’t have a good picture of but it honestly might have been the most captivating sight I’ve ever come across. Basically there are two mountains with a little miniature gorge between them and if you could climb through the gorge, which was not the least bit safe, the other side dropped straight down to a beach where the ocean on the other side of Table Mountain met the mountains. I took a picture with someone else’s camera but I haven’t been able to track down the picture. Eventually our goal was simply to get back to the ground. We made our way down after a while and then we just wanted to get back to the ship with our bodies in working order. So technically we never got to the actual top of Table Mountain. It might sound lame but I assure you I had a more exciting hike than anyone else on Semester at Sea.
As I mentioned before everyone spent a lot of time enjoying the nightlife of Cape Town. Long Street has more bars and clubs then I’ve ever seen in one place. My favorite night in Cape Town was when Kurt and I went to this Cuban restaurant called Cape to Cuba. There was a lounge singer doing mostly Frank Sinatra classics and I had the most amazing seafood pasta. After that we went to a few bars and clubs. At one point I’m pretty definite we were in a gay bar. The only girls in the place were the ones that came with us. Yeah so that’s something interesting? The club I ended up staying at had pretty good music and I was so happy to finally be able to just dance! Just a little factoid about myself for you all: I love to dance! When you’re not in high school you never get the opportunity to dance unless you get to go to a wedding or something. I mean there are clubs everywhere but usually that’s just not my scene. I don’t know maybe that’s just me? Anyways… Cape Town was so much fun and there was almost too many things to do. On the last day I went to a restaurant that was open to the beach and I got ostrich steak. I recommend doing that. It was a picturesque, relaxing way to end my time in Cape Town. So we just arrived in India this morning and I’ll be leaving for a three day trip called “The Art of Living.” There’s a website that I haven’t looked at (www.artofliving.org). Leave me more comments! It makes me feel good.

Namibia

Hey readers. I apologize for not posting this earlier. I’m in South Africa now. There were only two days between Namibia and South Africa but I had absolutely no time to post an entry with the amount of readings and work I had to do for my classes. I have yet to explain how the curriculum works on this ship. There are A-Days and B-Days. My schedule has two classes on A-Days and two classes on B-Days. The program offers maybe 75 classes or something close to that. Everyone has to take at least one global studies class and everyone is required to take at least 12 credits. My classes are The Rise of New Great Powers (my global studies class), Communication Across Race and Culture, Positive Psychology, and International Management. Doing the work is easy since you have a lot of time on the ship. Every class has field work that requires you to go on specific trips or analyze the effects of a country’s history, politics, or culture. The reading gets heavy sometimes but my experience has been that the work is easy because the stuff you’re learning about is interesting, which is refreshing. The extra curricular activities on the ship are interesting, too. One that I have been involved in that I can’t wait to see pan out is the Sea Olympics. Every room belongs to one of ten “seas” and after we leave South Africa we’re going to have our Olympics. My sea is the Adriatic Sea and we’re going to own it. Hell yeah.

So Namibia! Most people signed up to do safaris in South Africa which, I think, is a big mistake. Cape Town alone has so much going on so I’m real glad I did my safari in Namibia. Namibia has plenty to do as well but it’s not as easy to get around to the different cities as it is in South Africa. Originally Namibia was colonized by the Germans and even now it seems like everywhere you go is owned or employed by German people. Namibia has got three main cities that I spent time in. Walvis Bay is where the ship was docked, Swakopmund is a smaller town that is all commercial with plenty to do, and then there’s Windhoek which is the capital so obviously there is a mess of things going on. Namibia is mostly sand and desert so there is a lot of space between cities. It’s one of the least densely populated countries in the world. It’s kind of sad that all anyone knew about the country before getting there was that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie adopted one of their kids from there. I saw where they stayed in Namibia, it was real nice. Anyways, back to my trip. The first day I went to Windhoek and stayed at a enjoyable guest house with a few people. We went out to dinner with a Swedish couple who were on vacation in the area for a few weeks. Dinner was incredible. While eating with them it kind of hit me that growing up in Europe no one really has a choice but to know a plethora of languages. With all of those countries so close together it just comes natural for them. I never really cared to learn any other language besides English but when you’re with people that know a number of languages it’s straight up impressive. The next day was our safari. This safari wasn’t through SAS, it was an independent one that was much cheaper then any SAS offered. Something like 40 SAS kids ended up doing the same safari. We slept in tents and every day went to see animals. Not much to explain. The first day we came across three families of elephants all gathering at a water hole. The guides said it was a big deal and it never usually happened.

I don't have a picture of it but there was one elephant in the middle of about 20 other elephants that was colossal. There were loads of spring buck and zebra.

I’m one of the only people in my group that actually saw the cheetah. The lions we came across didn’t move much and our guide informed us that lions actually spend something like 20 hours a day resting. The only time I saw a rhinoceros was late at night. There was a watering hole next to each camp site we stayed at and the first night two rhinos came out really late at night. I couldn’t get a good picture of it but it was such an awesome thing to see. No one really cared about the wildebeests but I thought they were gnarly. Every time we passed them I got excited. Giraffes were fascinating creatures to see. I was eager to get a picture of one drinking water for you all to enjoy. At one point we stopped at this huge empty spot that used to be all water but now it’s just a big space of nothing. I know that just sounds stupid but it was actually an extraordinary sight. It was kind of depressing to see the environment unable to sustain itself. My roommate and I have all kinds of sick pictures but most are on other people’s cameras so this one will have to do. The last night of the safari our campsite was in between a bar, a pool, and a shop with a restaurant. It was some girl’s birthday and she reminded everyone all day and night. Besides that the most annoying thing for me was that everyone pointed to animals and would say the names of Disney characters instead of just being excited that there was a lion in front of them. Please, if you go on a safari, don’t stand there pointing at an elephant or lion saying Dumbo or Simba. Sorry for that outburst, back to the blog. This kid Mason who I met in line the first day taught a bunch of us how to play this game called Mao. It’s hard to explain but if you’ve heard of it then we must play together. It’s a card came where you have to get rid of your cards in the same way as Uno but there are all these rules that cause you to pick up cards. Some of the funny rules are that you can’t ask questions without calling a “point of order” and every time you get penalized you have to say thank you to the person who calls you out, being that it is a gentleman’s game. It was so much fun I can’t even put it into words. Everyone spent the last night at the bar having a good time. There were people from Switzerland, Finland, and Germany on the same safari and everyone was having a blast with them. Our tour guide, Lombard, was a character far before anyone spent a dollar at the bar. The guy from Finland was absolutely hysterical all night. For the entire 3-Day safari he was this quiet, polite guy and then all of a sudden he was super loud and outrageous, making everyone laugh. I slept on top of the safari bus that night because stargazing in Namibia is celestially unrivaled. If you ever go there try to spend at least one night stargazing. A good amount of people camped out in the desert to stargaze but sleeping on my safari bus was great for me. I saw more shooting stars in one night then I have in my whole life prior to Namibia. The food on the entire safari was cooked over open flames and for some reason it was always better than the food we eat on the ship. I hardly felt like I was roughing it. The last day of the safari we stopped at a wood carving market on the drive back. Each shop was real tiny but full of all kinds of African art and woodcarvings. I feel like I spent that entire day in the back of a van to get back to the ship. I actually thought it was awesome because we were driving towards the sun so any time I wasn’t sleeping there was a beautiful landscape and usually a sunset in front of me. I would just like to add that African sunrises and sunsets are breathtaking. There was one more day in Namibia and I spent it with my roommate exploring Swakopmund. We went to a bunch of different shops and ate good food and went 4x4ing through the desert! That was one of the coolest things I have ever done. I’ve never been interested in riding a quad before but having a desert with the largest sand dunes in the world to ride a quad in is straight up enlivening. It was only my roommate, the guide, and I, so we were able to go real fast. There was one point where we were all going full speed up this gargantuan dune and I was expecting a huge slope on the other side but when we got to the top it was this unbelievable view of the desert meeting the ocean. The sun was setting so it was just insane. I didn’t have my camera for some reason so that was one sight I can’t share with any of you and I apologize for that. We were already cutting it close on time before we drove the quads so we had to get to the ship in a hurry. I was the last person to swipe my card that day but it was the perfect way to end my time in Namibia. (I should probably elaborate on “swipe my card.” Everyone has I.D. cards and every time you leave or return to the ship you have to swipe your card so they know if you are on or off the ship. If you come back late on the day of departure then you get “dock time” for the next port. If you get dock time it means you have to spend time on the ship while everyone else is out having fun so dock time is not good times.) Namibia has a lot going on and I loved my time there. I should be writing about South Africa by the end of the week. Leave more comments!